SHC vs LH Stock Comparison

Sotera Health and Labcorp Holdings Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.39 +0.3% 1M +9.1% 1Y
Market cap
$5.27B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
4 wins
LH Labcorp Holdings Inc.
$329.98 +6.6% 1M +18.1% 1Y
Market cap
$26.78B
P/E
26.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.35B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Labcorp Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Labcorp Holdings 7, Sotera Health 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSHCLHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.27B $26.78B LH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.3x 26.7x LH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.0x 19.3x LH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.1% +6.4% SHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.4% 7.0% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.1% 8.2% SHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.3x 2.6x LH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.1% +18.1% LH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.0%/yr +6.5%/yr LH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.5% 24.1% LH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 56/100 SHC

Percentile Scorecard

SHCLH

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisSHCLH
Valuation 50 #47 of 93 62 #36 of 93
Growth 67 #30 of 88 30 #62 of 88
Profitability 80 #18 of 87 69 #28 of 87
Financial Health 35 #65 of 100 49 #52 of 100
Shareholder Returns – 73 #16 of 56
Overall 58 56
  • SHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • LH ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodSHCLHSPY
1 month +0.3%+6.6% -0.8%
3 months +6.7%+9.5% +3.5%
6 months +16.3%+25.3% +7.0%
Year to date +4.3%+31.5% +12.2%
1 year +9.1%+18.1% +13.0%
3 years +47.0%+65.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +13.7%+18.4% +23.1%
5 years -26.6%+36.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year -6.0%+6.5% +11.0%
10 years —+203.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+11.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSHCLHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.5%24.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.0%24.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.010.34 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.320.75 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -78.2%-35.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.0%-2.8% -1.8%
52-week high $19.57$339.40 $779.14
52-week low $13.13$246.64 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleSHCLH
P/E now vs peer median 32.1xmedian 25.1x 26.9xmedian 25.1x
P/S now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 1.6x 1.9xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.0xmedian 14.5x 14.8xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 46.6xmedian 22.4x 23.1xmedian 22.4x
P/B now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 3.1x 3.1xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 0.86median 0.66 2.86median 0.66

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsSHCLH
Revenue $1.22B $14.35B
Gross profit $668.51M $4.14B
Operating income $411.34M $1.50B
Net income $163.48M $1.00B
Free cash flow $112.70M $1.16B
EPS (diluted) $0.57 $12.22
Cash & equivalents $356.72M $141.80M
Total debt $2.14B $5.86B
Shares (diluted) 288.15M 82.00M
Enterprise value $3.96B $24.52B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricSHCLH
P/E 32.1x 26.9x
P/FCF 46.6x 23.1x
P/Operating cash flow 18.0x 16.3x
P/S 4.3x 1.9x
P/B 7.9x 3.1x
P/Tangible book 13.3x 5.4x
EV/EBITDA 13.0x 14.8x
EV/EBIT 17.1x 21.7x
EV/Revenue 5.8x 2.3x
EV/FCF 62.4x 28.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.1x 19.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.86 2.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSHCLH
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.1% 6.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 6.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.1% 9.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 7.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 21.8% 25.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 23.2% 14.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 580.5% 31.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 37.7% 6.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 574.9% 34.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 37.5% 9.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.8% -3.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 61.3% 3.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 0.0% -8.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.6% 0.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSHCLH
Gross margin 55.0% 28.9%
EBITDA margin 44.6% 15.3%
Operating margin 33.8% 10.4%
Pretax margin 21.7% 8.6%
Net margin 13.4% 7.0%
FCF margin 9.3% 8.1%
Operating cash flow margin 24.0% 11.4%
Return on equity 25.4% 11.6%
Return on assets 5.0% 5.3%
Return on invested capital 9.1% 8.2%
Return on capital employed 13.5% 9.0%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 3.1% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSHCLH
Debt / assets 64.7% 31.6%
Debt / equity 3.2x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.3x 2.6x
Debt / FCF 19.0x 5.1x
Liabilities / assets 79.9% 53.6%
Equity / assets 20.1% 46.4%
Interest coverage – 6.6x
Current ratio 2.8x 1.8x
Quick ratio 2.4x 1.2x
Cash ratio 1.5x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.93 3.42

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSHCLH
Dividend yield – 0.9%
Net buyback yield – 2.4%
Shareholder yield – 3.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusSHCLH
Forward P/E 20.0xFY2026 19.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.92FY2026 $17.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.0%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.7% +9.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.33BFY2026 $14.31BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.2% +11.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSHCLH
Held by institutions 100.0% 97.0%
Institutions holding 316 1,051
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.9% +1.6%
Institutions buying 220 465
Institutions selling 64 393
Buyers to sellers 3.44 1.18

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

SHCLH
SHC 1.00 0.40
LH 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SHC and LH?

Labcorp Holdings (LH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sotera Health (SHC) $5.27B, Labcorp Holdings (LH) $26.78B.

Which stock is cheaper, SHC and LH?

Labcorp Holdings (LH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Sotera Health (SHC) 32.3x, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 26.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Labcorp Holdings (LH) is cheapest (Sotera Health (SHC) 20.0x, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 19.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Sotera Health (SHC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +6.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 7.0%). On return on invested capital, Sotera Health (SHC) leads (Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 8.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Labcorp Holdings (LH) returned the most: Sotera Health (SHC) +9.1%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +18.1%. Over five years, Labcorp Holdings (LH) compounded fastest (Sotera Health (SHC) -6.0%/yr, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +6.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Labcorp Holdings (LH) has been the steadiest (Sotera Health (SHC) 28.5%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 24.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do SHC and LH move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.40, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, SHC and LH?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Labcorp Holdings (LH) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.